Digimon 03: Digital Guardians
by SignSeeker
Summary: [On Hiatus] A few years after the events of Digimon 02, the Chosen Children are called upon once more.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **This story pretty much ignores the final episode of season two, except for the part about the Chosen Children defeating BelialVandemon. Thus, everyone in the world did _not_ get a digimon, which was such a stupid idea because it takes away the uniqueness of being a Chosen Child as well as the point of the show (and this story). Also, as I pretty much like all of the Japanese names better than their English versions, that's what I'm going to use: this applies to humans _and_ digimon.

In Japan, the school year starts in April and consists of three terms. This story starts at the end of the kids' first term, during their month-long summer break before second term. Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari are in their first year of senior high school, Ken and Miyako are in their second, and Koushiro and Mimi are in their third. Iori is in his second year of junior high school. Taichi, Yamato, and Sora are all in their first year at the local college, where Jyou is in his second. This would make their ages, from oldest to youngest: Jyou: 19, Yamato: 18, Sora: 18, Taichi: 18, Koushiro: 17, Mimi: 17, Miyako: 16, Ken: 15, Hikari: 15, Daisuke: 15, Takeru: 15, Iori: 13.

* * *

Digimon 03: Digital Guardians

Prologue

The entity that was sometimes called Gennai was weary.

The world was disintegrating around him; fields, forests, and sky reverting back to the digital code they were derived from. Soon, he knew, there would be only space filled with thousands upon thousands of strands of this code. And then there would be nothingness, until the code reformed into another world.

Desperately, he worked to finish what he had begun. The stage had to be set for those destined to bring balance back to this place. He held the last Artifact in his hands- for the shape he wore at the moment was indeed humanoid- and spoke strange words from an ancient language never known to man. The golden object burned bright and hot with light, then winked out of existence as if it had never been.

Gennai slowly lowered his hands. It had taken most of his remaining energy, but the Artifact had been hidden well. He was very tired, yet one thing remained: the message must be sent.

* * *

_Three Years Later: Izumi Residence, 2:54 a.m._

Koushiro awoke suddenly. He lay still for a moment, eyes wide open in the dark, and tried to determine what had awakened him. Finding everything to be as still and silent as was appropriate for early morning, he shrugged it off as some biological glitch. Closing his eyes, the seventeen-year-old attempted to sleep.

His attempt was in vain. Minutes ticked by, but he found he was unable to slip back into unconsciousness. Irritated, Koushiro sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and into his slippers.

Treading softly so as not to disturb his parents, he entered the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of water, Koushiro wondered again what had caused him, a normally heavy sleeper, to awaken at such an odd hour. It had been sudden even, not the lethargic process it usually was: Taichi always joked that Koushiro was a lot like a slow-loading computer in the mornings.

Shrugging at his reflection in the kitchen window, Koushiro set the glass on the counter and headed back to his room. He was just about to crawl back into bed for another attempt at slumber, when a slow blinking light caught his eye. It was coming from his computer.

_That's strange_, he thought. _I'm sure I turned it off before I went to bed._

He paced over to the computer, and reached toward the keyboard. The moment his fingers touched the keys, the screen lit up. Koushiro stepped back in surprise, squinting against the sudden brightness.

Something was there, black type against a white background. Quickly recovering from his shock, he leaned forward again, trying to read the characters displayed on the screen.

_It looks like a message. _He frowned. _But who would send me an email at three o'clock in the morning, in a language I can't understand?_

Unable to make sense of the jumbled figures, he attempted to figure out where the message had come from by analyzing the signature characteristics of the sender. Tracing the route backwards from his computer took a while, mostly because the message seemed to be an old one, but Koushiro was completely awake by this time, his natural curiosity stimulated by the strange situation.

He almost fell out of his chair when he finally reached a result, and he rushed to double check his computations. The outcome was the same.

The message had been sent from someone in the Digiworld.


	2. Yesterday's Children

Chapter One: Yesterday's Children

Inoue Miyako stood in front of the Izumi's door, balancing several books in one hand as the other reached out to knock. Just before her fist connected, the door flew open.

Izumi Koushiro stood before her looking as if he hadn't slept, and from what he had told her over the phone, Miyako guessed that he probably hadn't. Despite his apparent weariness, there was a vivacious look in the older boy's brown eyes, though whether it was born of excitement or anxiety she couldn't tell.

"I'm glad you're here," Koushiro told her, guiding her inside and taking the books from her arms. "I could really use some help decoding this message."

"Have you managed figure out any of it?" Miyako asked, getting straight the point as they hurried to his room.

"Some," Koushiro said, pulling another chair up to his desk for her to sit on. Something in his voice told Miyako that whatever he had discovered, he didn't like it.

Miyako sat down, pulling her long hair back into a messy bun to get it out of her way, and stared at the garbled code of numbers displayed on the computer screen. "Do you really think it's from– ?"

"I'm not sure," Koushiro interrupted. "It originated from the plane the digital world is on though, so it's definitely a possibility."

Her heart sped up at the thought. "Shouldn't we contact the others?" she asked.

"Not yet. We need to figure out what's going on first so that we have something to tell them," Koushiro said. Miyako couldn't help the pride she felt at the fact that she had been the first person he called, and the only one he thought could help him figure this out.

Koushiro picked up one of the books. It was entitled _Mysterious Kyoto: Legends of the Ancient Capital_, and Miyako had borrowed it from Professor Takenouchi just this morning on Koushiro's request. "Thanks for bringing the books. From what I've already deciphered, we're going to need the information in them."

Miyako turned to face him, a serious expression on her pretty face. "Tell me everything."

* * *

She had been feeling odd all day. 

It was just a feeling, a tingling deep in her chest beneath the place where her tag and crest had once rested years ago, but if nothing else Yagami Hikari had learned to trust her instincts.

She had considered telling Takeru, because he was the person most likely to just believe her, no questions asked- but Hikari had decided to wait. No use troubling her best friend with something that might turn out not to mean anything at all.

Not that Takeru would mind. It was one of the things she loved about him, his ability to take everything in stride, and then to put an optimistic spin on whatever the problem turned out to be. But this time she was determined to handle things on her own, even if "handling" at the moment meant pacing her room.

Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Hikari sighed. Her hair was only a bit longer than it had been when she was twelve- she'd been told that the shorter length made her look older, which she had hoped would help Takeru see that they weren't children anymore, that there could be more than friendship between them. They had always been close, but they were older now, and she wanted more.

Hikari shook her head, clearing it of her desires. She wasn't going to let what she felt get in the way of what she shared with Takeru. If he didn't want to see it, then she could pretend that there wasn't anything to see.

Suddenly, the tingling sensation intensified, and Hikari gasped, clutching at her chest. What was going on?

She could recall feeling like this only twice before. The first time had been when she and her brother had first met Koromon. The other had been after the original digidestined had defeated VenomVandemon. Both times there had been an overlapping of this world and the digital world.

_Maybe…_

Hikari wandered out to the balcony, eyes searching the sky.

A soft "meow" caused her to glance down, as Miko, the Yagami's cat, wrapped himself around her ankles. To her surprise, Hikari felt tears in her eyes. As much as she tried not to dwell on it, she couldn't deny how much she missed the digimon. This was where she had first met Tailmon as her partner.

Gathering the cat up in her arms, Hikari sat cross-legged on the cool cement of the balcony and waited.

* * *

"Ta-da! What do you think Mimi-san?" the girl said, holding up an obnoxiously coloured ensemble. Her leader frowned, putting a well-manicured hand to her forehead in exasperation. 

Tachikawa Mimi was a person who could appreciate the colour pink- after all, her hair had once been this very shade- but this was ridiculous. As cheerleading captain, she was responsible for choosing the squad's new uniforms, but Mimi had thought it would be nice to take suggestions from the other girls. She was starting to regret her decision.

"I never thought I'd say this, but maybe it should be a little less pink, Aya-chan," Mimi told her younger friend.

Aya sighed heavily, letting the outfit drop to the floor. "We'll never find something we all agree on," she said despairingly. "We'll be here all night!"

Once upon a time, Mimi might have been the type of girl to agree with that, but her past experiences had taught her that giving up was generally the worst possible plan of action. She planned to apply the same philosophy here, though, of course, this was a trivial situation compared to such crises as, oh, the fate of the world for example.

That final battle had led to a lot of changes in her life, such as the loss of her best friend, Palmon. Not all the changes had been bad ones though: it had also led to her parents finally realizing that the "digimon experience", as her father put it, wasn't limited to Japan. After what had happened in New York, they decided to move the family back to Odaiba where they had always felt more at home. Mimi knew she had enjoyed her time in America much more than her parents had, but she was still glad to be back. She had friends in both countries, and Michael was even a digidestined child, like herself, but her friends in Japan had shared something with her that no one else in the world ever would.

So excuse her if she didn't think that being unable to agree on a cheerleading uniform was the worst thing that could ever happen. Mimi surmised from the frustrated murmuring and tense faces that most of her squad didn't feel the same way. As if Tachikawa Mimi ever had ever disappointed fashion-wise.

"We are going to finish this," Mimi declared passionately, "and nothing is going to distract us from our goal!"

The sound of a high-pitched ring-tone pierced the air. After checking their own phones, the girls stared at their leader, and she flushed in rare embarrassment.

"Uh, that's mine. Be back in moment, girls," Mimi told them.

But she wasn't.

* * *

Ishida Yamato glanced up from stove at the sound of the apartment door opening. 

"I'm really sorry I'm late you guys, practice went longer than I thought it would," came the apologetic sound of his younger brother's voice as Takaishi Takeru hurriedly kicked off his shoes and came running into the kitchen from the foyer, holding a basketball in one hand and his gym bag in the other. "Yamato!" he said, taking in the other boy's apron and sweats. "You're not dressed yet…where's Sora-san?"

Yamato casually leaned back on the counter, trying to hold back a grin at Takeru's anxiety. "She called to say that she got tied up at the flower-shop, but she'll be here soon."

Takeru looked relieved. "So I'm not late."

"Right, which means you have time to shower," Yamato said, wrinkling his nose in mock disgust. "You stink, Takeru."

Takeru stuck out his tongue, before replying, "You try playing basketball for two hours straight and then we'll see how nice _you_ smell." With that he left to get cleaned up.

Yamato laughed, and turned back to the rice. He was glad to see Takeru, even if the kid had a smart mouth. Their father had gone to a weeklong conference in Nagano, and had suggested that Yamato invite Takeru to stay at the apartment while he was away, which Yamato had happily done. Despite the fact that his mother had moved back to Odaiba with Takeru, the boys' busy schedules kept them from seeing each other as much as Yamato would have liked. Now that school was out for the summer, however, he was planning on spending some quality time with his little brother. Not that Takeru was exactly "little" anymore. In the past three years, the younger boy had shot up like a weed. He was just as tall as Yamato now, as much as the eighteen-year-old hated to admit it.

Glancing at the clock, Yamato saw that the time Sora had promised she'd arrive was fast approaching. Putting a lid on the pot of rice and turning off the oven, he untied his apron and headed to his bedroom to get changed.

He heard the shower stop as he was changing from his sweats into a pair of dark jeans and a black button-up shirt, which meant that Takeru would be in soon to get dressed himself. Pausing to look in the mirror, Yamato ran a hand through his blonde hair and arranged a few strands stylishly around his face. Satisfied, he left his room, just as there came a knock at the door.

"Hi, Yamato," Takenouchi Sora said brightly, when he let her in. She looked lovely in jeans and a yellow halter-top, her shoulder-length red hair held back by the clip shaped like a lily that he had given to her as a White Day gift.

"Hey," he grinned, giving his girlfriend of almost two years a light kiss on the mouth. "How was your day?"

"Tennis practice went all right this morning, but don't even get me started on the flower shop." She made a face, and Yamato gave her shoulders a sympathetic squeeze. "Hanako called in sick so my mother and I had to do all of her arrangements." Sora slipped off her sandals and followed him into the living room. "Mmm…it smells great in here."

"Thanks, I hope it tastes as good."

Sora smiled at him. "Of course it will." She looked around. "Where's Takeru?"

"Here," said Takeru, entering the room with still-damp hair and a wide grin. "It's so nice to see you, Sora-san," he said, giving her a hug.

"You too, Takeru-kun. Gosh, you've gotten tall!" she said, looking up at him. "And handsome, too. Next thing you know, Yamato's fans will be mistaking you for him." Takeru immediately blushed, much to the younger boy's chagrin and his brother's amusement. Sora giggled, winking at Yamato to let him know she was only joking.

"Thanks," Takeru said, and then changed the subject. "This was a good idea, Sora-san."

"I think so, too. It's been a long time since the three of us did something together," she agreed.

"All right, all right," said Yamato, rolling his eyes. "Enough flirting you two. Let's eat before the food gets cold."

They had just started eating, taking bites in between good-natured banter and gossip about the other digidestined, when the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Takeru said, pushing back his chair.

Two minutes later, they were running out the door.

* * *

Fumbling with his cup of coffee, Kido Jyou stared in amazement at the television screen. Some of the hot drink sloshed over the rim, scalding his hands, but he didn't even flinch. 

There were digimon in Kyoto. Digimon!

In between studying for the tests he was positive his professors would surprise him with the first day back from break, Jyou had switched on the evening news, hoping to relax a bit before starting another chapter in his readings.

But he definitely wasn't relaxed.

In fact, Jyou didn't know what he felt, frozen in his chair, listening to the newscaster describe the creatures that had magically appeared in several of Kyoto's temples. Some of what he felt was terror, he supposed, but underlying that was a great sense of anticipation. He knew what those creatures were, if not what they meant.

"Gomamon," he whispered. "Am I finally going to see you again?"

* * *

"Pass the ball, Daisuke!" Yagami Taichi called from where he stood in the middle of the soccer field, watching his team run the drill he had planned for them. "We already know you can score goals by yourself! That's it! Now run it again, guys!" 

This year Taichi was coaching senior high school soccer, as well as playing for a competitive team at the local college where he was working on a degree in politics. He planned on taking his team of fifteen-year-olds to the top, which meant practicing over the summer break. Of course, with players like Motomiya Daisuke and Ichijouji Ken on the team, Taichi was pretty confident of their success.

Both young men had grown, Ken so much so that he was taller than most boys Taichi's age. Personality wise, neither of them had changed all that much since their adventures in the digital world three years ago: Daisuke was still quick-tempered and passionate, while Ken was coolly intellectual and remained the only person Taichi knew who was able to make Daisuke see reason.

Taichi was just about to switch the drill, when he heard the familiar ring of his cellular phone. He frowned at the interruption, but headed over to retrieve it from his backpack nonetheless.

"Come on in and take a break!" Taichi called, and the boys jogged over to the side of the field where their own bags lay.

Recognizing the number displayed on the screen, Taichi flipped open his phone. "Hello?"

"Taichi? It's Koushiro. Listen, you need to meet me at the park right away."

"What? As much as I'd love to hang out, I'm a little busy right now, Koushiro." Since school had started, Taichi hadn't seen a whole lot of his redheaded friend. He missed the closeness the Chosen Children shared, the closeness that had diminished a bit since he, Yamato, and Sora had began their studies at the university.

"Taichi, this is serious! Something's happened in the digital world!"

Taichi felt his heart stop for a beat, and adrenaline flooded his body. _The Digiworld_. Were they finally going back, after all this time? Taichi had never really believed that their adventures there were over, even when they had defeated Belialvandemon and the digiports had been closed off. And he had never really given up hope that he would be able to see Agumon again.

"What happened? Are we going back?" he asked excitedly. A few of his players looked at their coach with idle curiously from where they lounged on the grass with their water bottles, but Daisuke and Ken had stood up and were looking at him with anticipation. They couldn't possibly have known what Taichi was referring to, yet some instinct inside of them did. _Going back_ meant something to them, something immensely important.

"I can't explain it over the phone; we need to get all theChosen Childrentogether," Koushiro told him, and Taichi could hear the urgency in his voice.

"All right, I'll be there, and I'll bring Daisuke and Ken."

"Good, that will save me some calls," Koushiro said. "Hurry!" And with that the connection ended.

Taichi stared at the phone for a beat, and then said in a tone that sounded as if he was trying much too hard to be calm, "Practice is over, guys.Pack up your things and head home."

As their puzzled teammates scattered, Daisuke and Ken rushed over to Taichi.

"It's the Digiworld, isn't it?" Daisuke asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Ken seemed more calm outwardly, but his voice held a slight tremble when he said, "Has something bad happened? Are our digimon okay?"

"I'm not sure," Taichi said, "but we're going to find out. Do you two have your D3's?"

Both boys nodded. "In my bag," Daisuke said eagerly.

"Mine, too," said Ken.

Taichi gave a wry grin, lifting his shirt a bit to show the digivice clipped to his belt. "I guess old habits die hard," he said. "Let's go!"

* * *

Hida Iori couldn't say exactly what had made him open the box. 

Maybe it was because today was the anniversary of his father's death, or maybe it was because he'd been watching a television show about North American wildlife and they'd featured an animal called an armadillo that had looked painfully like Armadimon, but whatever it had been, he had opened it. And now Iori sat on his bed with his most prized possessions laid out carefully before him, like some strange museum of his soul.

There were pictures of his father, and of his grandfather who had died last year. There were medals from Kendo competitions, and awards from school, and other treasures from the past. And, of course, his D3, lying blank and quiet on his bedspread.

But the digivice had been silent for a while now; Iori was used to that. Still, he couldn't help but miss those adventures of his younger days.

Not that Iori's life was some horrible tragedy. He liked all his classes at the junior high school, and was the best fighter of his age in the Kendo league. He had many friends, both old and new, and was generally a happy boy, if a pragmatic one. But there would always be that empty space inside of him that was meant for his digimon.

Suddenly, the light in the room shifted, and a faint beeping noise met his ears: it was his D3. Iori stared at it, disbelieving.

For the first time in three years, there was something on the screen.


	3. The Return

Chapter Two: The Return

As the streetlights came on over Odaiba, Daisuke, Ken and Taichi raced along the path that ran through Kaihin Park, heading for the grove of sakura trees where Koushiro had asked the Chosen Children to meet.

It was darker in the park, because there were no streetlights here, but a different sort of luminance brightened the night for them. Shortly after leaving the soccer field, all three of their digivices had begun to glow. Ahead, Daisuke could see a similar glow, which meant that the rest of the digivices were also lit.

"We're here," Taichi panted, as they reached the group of teenagers. "What's going on?"

"Now that everyone is together," Koushiro said, "I'll do my best to explain." He hesitated, and Daisuke saw him glance down at something displayed on the laptop he held. "I should warn you, though, that most what I'm about to say is speculation."

"Just tell us what you think is happening, Koushiro," Yamato told him from where he stood with one arm around Sora. "Your guess is probably better than anything the rest of us could come up with."

"I guess I'll start with what I know for sure," Koushiro began. "Early this morning, I woke up to find a message on my computer. At first I didn't know that it _was_ a message, but I soon recognized it as some sort of binary code, a kind I had only received from one place before."

"The Digiworld," Daisuke murmured. Beside him, Ken unconsciously clutched his D3 tighter in one hand, the indigo light shining out between his clenched fingers.

Koushiro frowned at the interruption, but continued. "Right. Not only that, but it was sent approximately three years ago, right after we fought Belialvandemon. I'm not exactly sure who or what it's from, though I think we can assume for now that Gennai sent it. I had some trouble deciphering the specifics of the code, but Miyako helped me solve it."

For the first time, Daisuke noticed that Miyako was standing just behind Koushiro, close enough so that with one more step she would have been pressed against him. She blushed slightly when the older boy said her name, but spoke out clearly.

"It took some time," she said, "but we were able to figure it out. It's sort of a riddle…I'll read it to you." Miyako cleared her throat slightly, and read from a piece of paper with hastily scribbled characters on it.

"'_The world has been reformed, and shapes that once were are no more_

_Proof and problem found in Heiankyō, where there is need for only four._

_To the beginning the rest must go, to restore the virtues that held the balance just so_

_Eight tools cast to help fight the foe; free the captives or all shall fall to ash and woe._

_Two are born of shadow, from fire only one,_

_Three in forms of water, and two are trapped in stone_.'"

Miyako lowered the paper and looked up at them, her glasses reflecting the maroon glow from her D3. There was a moment of silence, and then Daisuke decided to go ahead and say what everyone was thinking.

"What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"We don't really know," answered Koushiro. "Although I think I can explain the first line."

"Explain away," said Takeru. The blonde was standing close to Hikari, not that Daisuke was surprised. He had given up on anything happening between him and Hikari years ago, tired of being second best when it came to the girl's affections. Plus, as he'd gotten older, Daisuke had realized that his tastes were a little differently oriented than he had first suspected.

Koushiro paused to gather his thoughts. "When we destroyed Belialvandemon, we somehow triggered the reconfiguration of the data that makes up the digital world. It's sort of like rebooting your computer, except to a much greater degree. Essentially, the entire world was remade."

"Even our digimon?" asked Iori.

"Yes."

"But that's all right," Takeru said. "Their data would have been be recollected in the digieggs."

Koushiro was shaking his head. "I'm not certain that's how it worked this time. I'm sure the types of digimon we remember will exist, but they may not be _our_ digimon anymore."

"What are you talking about, Koushiro?" asked Mimi uneasily.

"I'm saying that a Tentomon may exist who isn't my partner, who doesn't even know who I am."

Daisuke felt himself pale. The thought of finding Chibimon or V-mon only to discover that his digimon did not remember any of what they had shared was a devastating one.

"But you don't know for sure," Ken said.

Koushiro looked at him. "No, I don't. And I hope I'm wrong."

"What about the next part of the riddle," Sora said, obviously trying to change the subject to something less grim. "Heiankyō…that sounds familiar to me."

Miyako smiled. "It should," she told the redheaded girl. "I actually found out what it meant from one of your father's books, Sora-san. Heiankyō is the old name for the city of Kyoto."

Jyou smacked his forehead. "Oh! That reminds me! Did any of you catch the news before you left?" They all shook their heads. "Well, I got distracted when my digivice became activated and forgot to mention it," he said, sounding a bit embarrassed, "but before Koushiro called me, I saw on the news that digimon have appeared in Kyoto!"

"That explains some of the second line," said Koushiro thoughtfully.

Ken nodded. "Those digimon could be the proof or the problem, or even both. But who are 'the four'?"

No one knew.

"I'm not sure about that," Yamato finally said, "but the part about going back to the beginning could mean the camp where we first entered the digital world."

Hikari shook her head. "No," she said, speaking for the first time, "not all of us were there." She met her brother's eyes. "Everything really started at Hikarigaoka." (1)

"She's right," Taichi said. "That's where all of us had our first encounter with the Digiworld."

"And the 'virtues' can only be our crests," said Sora. "So something must have happened to them when the digital world was remade."

"I agree," said Koushiro. "Any ideas about the rest of the riddle?"

There weren't any, but Daisuke was getting tired of talking anyway. "I say we go to Hikarigaoka," he said.

"Yeah," Iori agreed. "Maybe we can somehow get back into the digital world from there."

"Right," Takeru added. "Our digivices were activated, so there must be a digiport around here somewhere."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Daisuke asked, and they were gone, sending up a whirl of sakura blossoms in their wake. (2)

* * *

The first thing that struck Takeru as odd as they approached Hikarigaoka was the lack of people they encountered. The streets were strangely devoid human life, and many of the windows of the apartment buildings they passed were dark. The second thing was that the closer they got, the colder it seemed to get. Intellectually, Takeru knew that it was a warm summer night, but the hair had risen on his arms and he could see his breath when he exhaled. 

He could also feel Hikari shivering where she brushed up against him, and Takeru grabbed her hand as they ran. Her fingers were like ice. "Almost there," he whispered encouragingly, and got a quick smile for his efforts.

Finally, they reached their destination and stood at the district's boundary, looking up. The bridge loomed before them. It was completely dark; even the streetlights here had been mysteriously snuffed out, and if not for the rainbow glow of their digivices, Takeru would not have been able to see his own hands before his face.

"Well, we're here," Jyou said. "Now what?"

"Why is it so cold?" Mimi asked, wrapping her arms around herself. She was clad only in a short summer dress.

"It's okay, Mimi," said Taichi, shrugging off his light jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Should we keep going?" he wondered aloud.

Takeru frowned: something told him that wasn't the right. Apparently, Hikari agreed with him.

"No," she said. "I think…I think we should wait here."

No one questioned her. By now, they had all learned to take Hikari seriously when she offered up advice, because she was usually right. Takeru sometimes thought his friend was psychic. Huddling together to form a loose circle, the twelve teenagers waited.

"I wish whatever we're waiting for to happen would just _happen_ already," Daisuke complained, kicking an empty can down the sidewalk in frustration. Ken laid a calming hand on the auburn-haired boy's shoulder.

Takeru sighed, and shifted his weight a bit, causing the digivice clipped to his belt to brush against Hikari's. There was a sudden flash, and Hikari gasped as a blinding cylinder of light rose up from their D3's.

"Quick!" Miyako said, catching on immediately. "Everyone put your digivices together!" She held her D3 out toward the middle of the circle they had formed, and the other Chosen Children followed suit.

The effect was instantaneous, as a large, multicolored column of light formed from their digivices. Takeru tried to follow it, but it rose higher than he could see.

"What's that?" Sora suddenly cried.

Takeru's eyes snapped back to the base of the column, and sure enough he could just make out a figure taking shape in its center. As the figure became clearer, it took the form of a young boy, a boy with dark blue eyes and who was bald except for a tuft of brown hair fashioned into an unmistakable ponytail on the top of his head.

"Gennai?" Yamato asked in disbelief.

"Very good, Child of Friendship," said the boy who was Gennai. "I am glad you all figured out how to contact me- we have important matters to discuss."

"I'll say," muttered Daisuke.

"I apologize for the cold, but I needed all the energy I could get to appear here, even though the barriers between our two worlds are weakening." It was strange to hear Gennai speaking in such a childish voice. It seemed that every time they met him he was younger, Takeru reflected.

"Barriers?" Koushiro questioned.

"Yes. Surely you, the Child of Knowledge, would have noticed such a thing." Koushiro only looked at the boy expectantly, unaffected by the taunt. It would appear that Gennai's attitude matched the rest of his childlike form.

"Explain it to us, Gennai," Ken said.

"The barriers are bands of energy, layered between the worlds to prevent the crossing over of material from one world to another," the boy explained. "However, the last time the digital world was reconfigured, the barrier that separates it from this world did not form properly. There have always been weak points- I believe you call them 'digiports'- but now the barrier has become so thin in some places that it takes powerful digimon only a bit of effort to cross over. This is a dangerous situation, as you can well imagine."

"That explains how the digimon got into Kyoto," said Jyou, almost to himself.

"But why, Gennai?" Takeru asked. "What went wrong in the reconfiguration?"

Gennai sighed heavily, a gesture that seemed much too adult for his childish form. "Three years ago, Belialvandemon was destroyed, this you know. What you do not know is that at the exact moment his data was pulled apart, the digital world began its reconfiguration process. His virus data in its free form was able to integrate with the foundations of the newly recreated world."

Takeru didn't like where this was going.

"The result was a major imbalance of dark and light," Gennai continued. "The spirit of Belialvandemon caused the creation of more evil-hearted digimon than good. They imprisoned the four guardians of the digital world in the regenerated Destiny Stones, and tried to prevent the reformation of the only things that could restore the balance."

"Our crests," Taichi said.

"Yes. But I was able to ensure that this did not happen by using the last of my energy to hide some of them deep inside the data sequences of the digital world. Of where they are now though, and in what form, I know very little."

"But what about our digimon?" Iori asked the question that was on all of their minds.

Gennai looked troubled. "I do not know what became of your partners," he said, "but I expect that they are somewhere in the digital world. Probably grouped together, as they were so connected before the reconfiguration."

"But what can we do without our digimon?" Mimi asked. "It was dangerous enough in the Digiworld before this all happened; it would be even worse now without Palmon by my side."

"You will find a way," came the cryptic reply.

"Wait," Hikari spoke up. "You said you were able to hide _some_ of the crests, but what about the others?"

"Four of the twelve crests I managed to hold onto during my own reconfiguration."

"And you were planning on telling us this _when_?" Taichi muttered rhetorically.

"Twelve? Don't you mean nine?" Miyako asked. "Daisuke, Iori, and I never had crests of our own."

The boy smiled. "This time you do. Actually, yours are the ones I managed to save, along with the Crest of Kindness." The light flared, and four sets of tags and crests suddenly appeared floating in the column before them.

Takeru couldn't believe it. _There are three more crests?_

"Take them," Gennai said, and Daisuke, Ken, Miyako, and Iori reached into the light.

"What does it stand for?" Daisuke asked, staring down at his crest in wonder. All Takeru could see from this angle was that it was the same greenish-blue colour he had once heard described as cyan.

"Yours is the Crest of Loyalty." Gennai turned to Miyako. "And you are the Chosen Child of Compassion," he told her.

"And mine?" Iori stood next to Takeru, cradling his crest carefully with two hands. Takeru could see that his younger friend's crest was of the darkest green, and that the symbol on it was an upside-down triangle with three, smaller triangles surrounding each of its edges.

"The Crest of Integrity."

"What about our crests, Gennai?" asked Jyou.

Gennai shook his head, his ponytail swinging back and forth almost comically. "It is as I said; the others were transformed and now rest somewhere in the digital world."

"So they could look like anything and be pretty much anywhere," said Yamato. "Great."

"What about the guardians?" Koushiro suddenly asked. "You said they were imprisoned inside of the Destiny Stones, but since the guardians of the digital world correspond to the four guardians of Kyoto, I would guess that in our world the Destiny Stones are the four great temples of Kyoto. That would explain why digimon appeared there." (3)

"You are correct in your thinking. The digimon there now have been sent to keep the guardians imprisoned," Gennai told them.

"Kyoto is the place where worlds collide," Miyako said, exchanging a glance with Koushiro, "we read about that. It's easier for spirits to cross over there than it is at any other place on Earth. Maybe the guardians of the digital world are imprisoned in the temples instead of the Destiny Stones."

"This is a likely possibility," said Gennai. "If so, you must release the guardians in your world."

"We're definitely going to need our digimon for that," Taichi said. "And I guess that means we need to get to the Digiworld as soon as possible to find them."

Gennai nodded. "Yes. Though be warned that the digital world is not the same place it was before. There is much darkness there." He looked around at the serious faces that surrounded him. "Do not despair; with your crests, I believe you will be able to overcome it. You must find them, before the digital world becomes completely unstable. If that happens, the entire digital plane may collapse, eclipsing this world and everything on it in darkness."

Takeru tried to swallow, and found he could not. Beside him, Hikari was biting her lip, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere beyond their little circle. She seemed very far away, and he resisted the urge to grab her hand again. Suddenly, Takeru noticed that the column of light had grown dim, and Gennai's image was beginning to fade.

"I cannot remain here for much longer," Gennai told them. "You must come now. Put your hands into the light."

"We don't really have choice, do we?" Jyou asked.

There was a brief moment of considering silence, and then Takeru spoke. "Even if we _did_ have choice, we would go, wouldn't we?" He frowned. "At least, I know I would." He reached out to the shining pillar.

Takeru felt the warm light encompass his hand, his arm, and then his whole body as he was lifted up into the stream of energy. The other Chosen Children followed, and soon they were all drifting into another dimension.

* * *

(1) Hikarigaoka district is renamed Highton View Terrace in the dub. 

(2) Yes, I know sakura trees bloom in April, but let's just pretend that they would last until July, ne?

(3) There actually aren't "four great temples of Kyoto" but I will be using four of the city's temples as the Destiny Stone equivalents. You know, creative license and all that jazz.


	4. Errors in the Landscape

Chapter Three: Errors in the Landscape

If Sora hadn't known any better, she would have said that they'd made a wrong turn at some point in their journey from Odaiba. But she did know better, and they could only be in the digital world.

And there was no sign of Gennai. It figured. _It's just like him to tell us the world is going to end and then leave us to figure the rest out on our own_, she thought with unusual bitterness.

Gazing around her from where she'd landed in a heap on the hard ground, Sora could see just how much the Digiworld had changed since the last time she'd visited. She found it difficult to reconcile this barren land with the vibrant place of her memories. Before them stood a great wall of stone, a mountain with jagged peaks running east and west as far as she could see. Behind them, the land consisted mainly of rock and sand, a desert. Yet, what was most unsettling was that everything was grey and cold, as if the world had faded somehow, devoid of all its colour. Their little band of travelers was the brightest thing against the bleak landscape.

"Just like the Dark Ocean," she heard Hikari murmur, and Ken nodded his solemn agreement.

Sora didn't know what they were referring to, but she was unaccountably reminded of the cave where she had been trapped by her own dark thoughts, where she would have succumbed to despair, if not for her friends. She shivered.

"You okay?" Yamato asked, blue eyes radiating concern as he offered his hand to help her up.

Sora grasped it, taking comfort in the familiar warmth of his palm against hers, and was relieved to find not everything in this twisted version of digital world was cold.

"I'm fine," she said, releasing Yamato's hand to brush strands of hair from her face. "Is everyone else all right?"

"Yes, if by 'all right' you mean stunned and slightly bruised," Jyou said.

"This place sure has changed," said Daisuke, brushing sand from his soccer jersey.

Iori rolled his eyes. "Understatement of the _year_."

"Where are we supposed to go?" asked Mimi, struggling to stand in her high-heeled shoes, before pulling them off in frustration. Barefooted, she made her way over to Taichi who was staring speculatively out into the desert.

"I really don't think the desert is the way to go, Taichi," said Yamato dryly.

Taichi made a face at him. "I wasn't going to suggest it," he told the blonde.

Inwardly, Sora cringed. The last thing they needed was a fight. She stepped between the two boys. "Obviously, we'd be crazy to cross the desert, we all know that. But the only other place to go…." Sora looked up at the cliffs. The only way she would feel comfortable crossing those would be if she were nestled safe against Birdramon's leg. She missed her digimon.

"Hey!" Koushiro said excitedly. "Is anyone else's digivice showing digieggs nearby?"

Sora quickly checked hers, and, sure enough, it showed several intersecting dots clustered at one edge of the screen. Pyokomon's sweet face immediately came to mind. "Do you think they could be…?"

"Let's go find out!" Daisuke charged impulsively into the desert. He didn't get very far before Ken grabbed the back of his shirt, halting his progress.

"Uh, Daisuke? They're in the other direction."

"Right, I knew that!" said Daisuke sheepishly.

Koushiro was staring at the mountain range, a calculating look in his eyes. "Any suggestions on how to cross that thing?"

"What if just we walk along the base and look for an opening?" Takeru proposed. "There's bound to be some way to get to the other side."

"I like that idea," Miyako said. "It's less insane than actually trying to climb it."

None of them could disagree with that. Their next problem was whether to head east or west along the wall. Taichi solved the problem by fishing a coin out of his pocket.

"Heads we go east, tails we go west," he said. They all watched as the coin spun in the air. _Leave it to Taichi,_ Sora thought, _to let a coin toss determine our fate._

"Tails," Taichi said holding the coin against the back of one hand. "West it is."

And so they walked, always keeping the cliff to their right, looking out for any fissures in the rock that could mean a way through. They didn't get very far before Daisuke, who had taken up the lead, called out: "Hey, you guys! Hurry up! I think there's an opening up here!"

They all hurried to catch up with him. From a little ways off, where Daisuke had first glimpsed it, it really did look like an opening to a tunnel. When they stood looking into it, however, the crevice turned out to lead to nothing more than a shallow cave, curving up from the base of the natural wall.

Sora felt herself slump, and allowed a small sigh to escape her lips. _This might take a while. _Iori, she noticed, had made his way deeper into the cavern and was examining its back wall very closely. Frowning, she nudged Yamato, gesturing to the younger boy. He caught her gaze, and they exchanged a confused glace.

"Come on you guys," Takeru was saying. "Let's keep going."

"No, wait!" Iori called. "Come look at this! There are pictures of the crests on this wall!"

They crowded back to look, and sure enough, there were crude representations of their crests etched into the stone. Sora picked out her Crest of Love immediately. Wonderingly, she saw that there were also depictions of three crests she had never seen before that could only be the ones Gennai had given Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori.

"What do you suppose it means?" Mimi asked, tracing the symbol of Purity with one finger. (1)

Hikari was staring intently at the drawing of her crest. "Something…" she murmured.

"Uh, could you be a little more specific, Hikari-chan?" Daisuke asked, jokingly. "Hey!" he cried out suddenly in surprise.

Sora gasped: from where it lay on its tag against his chest, Daisuke's crest had begun to glow.

"What…? Is it supposed to do this?" he demanded.

Shouts of astonishment made Sora spin around to where Miyako, Ken, and Iori stood, their crests also shining brightly.

"I don't get it," said Jyou, scratching the back of his head in puzzlement. "This usually only happens if one of us is in trouble."

Miyako held her crest up, looking at it from all different angles. "It's beautiful," she said in awe, and Sora was reminded of the first time she'd seen her crest like that. She wondered if she'd ever see it again.

Ken, who was carefully cradling his Crest of Kindness in the palm of one hand, nodded in mute agreement.

Iori had reached out to run his hand reverently over the stone that showed his symbol of Integrity. He wore a contemplative expression on his face, which was lit by the green light from his crest. "I wonder if- "

And then suddenly, he was gone.

Mimi screamed, and Takeru called out the boy's name, but before they could even guess as to what had happened, Daisuke, Ken, and Miyako disappeared as well.

* * *

Taichi had been pacing back and forth along the crest-covered wall for almost ten minutes now and he had yet to figure out what to do. 

He didn't like feeling as if things were out of control. As the self-proclaimed leader of the Chosen Children, he figured that it was his responsibility to make sure things like this didn't happen, or if they did, to fix them. It wasn't that Taichi didn't appreciate some adventure in his life, but this was getting to be too much. The four younger kids had disappeared without a trace and they still weren't any closer to finding their digimon.

The others had spread themselves out around him, some of them sitting wearily on the sand, others searching the rest of the walls for any clues as to what to do.

"Too bad whoever made this thing didn't leave any instructions on what to do with it," Yamato said, glaring at the wall as if he could break through it by the sheer force of his aggravation.

Taichi had to agree with him: it was a pretty inconvenient situation. _Somewhere_, he thought,_ someone is watching us and laughing._

"I know this sounds strange, but it almost looked as if they were sucked into the wall," Jyou said from where he sat against the side of the cave.

"If that's true, then I really hope they made it through to the other side," said Sora, who was standing next to Yamato. The blonde put a comforting hand on the small of her back and Taichi was surprised that he felt no pain at what he saw. At first, it had been hard to accept the relationship between his two best friends, but Taichi had forced himself to move past it, not wanting to lose their friendship. It was an old hurt now.

"They must have," said Takeru, responding to Sora's comment. "It's the only explanation." He paused. "Unless they got sent back to our world…or a different one."

Taichi let out a grown. "We need to get through this wall!" he cried, slamming his fist against it in frustration.

"We can all agree with that, onii-chan," Hikari said serenely, "but I don't think that turning your fists into mincemeat is going to help." Taichi saw Takeru try to hide a smile with one hand, but before he could say anything in reply, Koushiro spoke up.

"There has to be some reason that our crests are on this wall," he said, almost to himself. "It's like a gate. It must be the way through…."

"What are you talking about, Koushiro?" Taichi asked.

"Well," he said, "the others disappeared when their crests were activated, right? The crests were like the keys to a lock. But the rest of us don't have crests right now, at least not physical ones."

"But we already knew that," Yamato pointed out.

"Let me finish," Koushiro told him. "We don't have physical crests, but remember when we fought Apocalymon? The power of our crests is inside of us."

"I think I get it," Sora said. "If they're inside of us, then we should be able to get past the wall, too. But how?"

"Maybe if we touch the pictures, they'll recognize the virtues inside of us," Hikari suggested.

It was as good of an idea as any of them were likely to come up with, so Taichi stepped forward. "Well," he said, "only one way to find out." He reached toward the image of his crest, pressing his palm flat against it. At first, nothing happened, and he almost fell back in disappointment, but then the stone flared up with some kind of internal fire.

Taichi could feel his hand begin to burn, and the scent of charred flesh filled his nostrils. Yelling out in pain and fear, he tried to pull back, but found he couldn't free his hand from the stone. The symbol of courage was blazing beneath his palm. Behind him Hikari was screaming his name and Yamato had rushed forward to pull him back, but suddenly, almost as soon as it had began, it was over.

He was on the other side of the wall.

Taichi stared blankly at the symbol that had been burnt into his palm, running his fingers over the darkened flesh that was shaped into the eight-pointed star of the Crest of Courage. _What just happened?_

"Taichi! Taichi!" cried a slightly squeaky voice.

Taichi's head shot up; he would have known that voice anywhere. "Koromon?" He spun around, and got a face full of pink digimon.

"Koromon! It's really you!" Taichi cried happily, prying the little creature off of his face and into his arms.

"Yep! I've been waiting for you!" Koromon said, pressing up against Taichi. "I thought I was never going to see you again. I missed you sooo much!"

Taichi felt tears come to his eyes. "Right back at you, little buddy."

"Taichi-san!" someone called, and Taichi turned around to see Daisuke and the other three missing teens waving at him.

"Look," Daisuke said. "We found our digimon!" He held up a laughing Chibimon.

"How?" Taichi asked, still amazed that it was really Koromon he was holding.

Ken, who had both arms wrapped around Minomon, shook his head. "We don't know how. We were just here, and so were they."

For the first time, Taichi looked around him. There was colour, he realized, and it was much warmer. They were in a field of some sort, and off in the distance he could see the beginnings of a forest. It was so much different here that it was hard to believe that it was the same world, but the mountain stood behind him, solid proof that it was. Perhaps the most miraculous thing of all was cluster of digieggs the sat on a small, grassy knoll near the center of the field.

As he approached it, Taichi could see Miyako and Iori sitting on the hill, their digieggs on their laps. "Ours haven't hatched yet," Iori said, rubbing a hand over the yellow egg he held.

"Where is everyone else?" Miyako asked, gazing up at him.

In his joy at seeing his digimon again, Taichi had completely forgotten about the others. "Oh, no!" He turned towards the wall. "They're still on the other side!"

"Don't worry," Daisuke said. "They'll just do what you did…uh, what did you do, exactly?"

"I'm not really sure," Taichi told him. "I just touched the image of my crest, and I was here." He held up his palm to show them the symbol burned into it. "And I got this."

They stared at it. "Ouch!" said Koromon. "That looks like it hurt, Taichi."

Taichi nodded. "It did."

"Hey, look!" cried Miyako, pointing at the wall.

It had started to glow and there were seven familiar symbols visible on its face. Taichi had to close his eyes for a moment against the glare, and when he opened them the rest of the Chosen Children were standing in front of him.

Daisuke grinned. "We were wondering when you guys would show up."

* * *

(1) For those of you who don't know, the Crest of Purity is the Japanese version of the Crest of Sincerity, just like the Crest of Faith is the Crest of Reliability. For the sake of this story, I'll be using the Japanese versions of Mimi and Jyou's crests. 


	5. The Child Ephemeral

**A/N:** This is a relatively short chapter, but I promise that it will be the last purely explanatory one. Then things can really get started.

Chapter Four: The Child Ephemeral

Koushiro had never really been a very patient person. Sure, he could wait for a new computer program to install, or for a video game to save, but those were special cases. Generally, he left patience to people like Sora or Iori.

So it was not exactly easy for him to sit and wait for his digiegg to hatch while all around him his friends were being reunited with their partners. It was especially difficult because he was still fearful that his theory on the limitations of the reconfiguration process would prove to be correct, that his digimon really wouldn't remember him. That hadn't been true in the case of the digimon that had hatched so far, but Koushiro knew enough about probability to be concerned.

"Tanemon!" he heard Mimi squeal in delight. "Oh, it's so good to see you again!" (1)

_Eleven down, one to go_, Koushiro thought. It wasn't fair: most of the digieggs had begun to open as soon as they'd joined Taichi and the others on this side of the wall.

Immediately after Taichi had disappeared back in the cave, Hikari had reached out to the Crest of Light, imitating her brother's actions, despite how painful it had looked. The rest of them had done the same, winding up here, in this field that looked like something out of the digital world that he remembered. How they had gotten here, Koushiro couldn't even speculate at: he had given up trying to understand things like this. All he knew was that whatever had happened had led them to their digimon, and he wasn't about to question miracles.

But there was something that he _did_ wonder about.

Raising one hand and turning its palm toward his face, Koushiro examined the image that had been imprinted there. It was the Crest of Knowledge. The others had had their crests burned into their hands as well. _But why?_ The process had hurt, but he had to trust that there was a purpose to it. In his experience, nothing happened in this world without a reason.

Suddenly, the egg he held in his arms began to shake, and Koushiro watched in awe as it split in two, revealing a familiar pink blob.

"Motimon!" he cried, and the little digimon blinked up at him in surprise. Koushiro could feel anxiety well up inside of him. "Do you…do you remember me?"

"What? Have you been staring at your computer screen too long again, Koushiro? Of course I remember you!" Motimon hopped onto Koushiro's shoulder, nuzzling at the boy's ear affectionately.

"Looks like you were wrong, Koushiro," Mimi said happily, hugging a squirming Tanemon to her chest.

He grinned. "This is one time I'm glad that I was."

"Was that the last one?" Taichi asked, glancing around.

"Looks like it," Yamato said, Tsunomon tucked beneath one arm.

"All right then." Taichi had a speculative expression on his face. Behind him, the sun was setting slowly, creating a shadow that stretched from the base of the mountain, reaching toward the group of humans and digimon. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry."

For the first time, Koushiro realized that he was actually quite famished. What with all the excitement, it seemed that his body was only now cluing in to the fact that he hadn't eaten anything all day. "Now that you mention it, Taichi, so am I."

"I'm starving!" Daisuke agreed, then flushed when his stomach gurgled sharply, as if to prove the point.

"Me too," said Chibimon, bouncing on the toes of Daisuke's shoes. "Let's eat!"

The other digimon voiced their agreement. "Come on, Jyou," Pukamon was saying. "I bet there'll be berries and things in that forest over there."

"Hurry up, Koushiro!" Motimon called, bouncing after Pukamon.

_Same old digimon_, Koushiro thought wryly, _always thinking with their stomachs_. Smiling, he rose to his feet and headed toward the forest, the other Chosen Children close behind him.

* * *

As night began to fall around them, twelve humans and twelve digimon gathered in a small clearing in the forest. 

Ken sat between Takeru and Miyako, his digimon resting comfortably on his lap. After stuffing themselves on wild fruit, the Chosen Children, acting on one of Daisuke's better suggestions, had gathered sticks and dry logs. The would-be campfire sat in the center of their circle.

"Okay, Agumon," Taichi said. "Go for it!"

"Baby Flame!"

Ken watched as flames shot from the little dinosaur's mouth, neatly igniting their fire. After they had eaten, the digimon had evolved to their rookie forms, with the exception of Nyaromon, who had bypassed her child stage to become Tailmon.

Leaning back to rest on his hands, Ken looked around the circle, taking comfort in the sight of all his friends together and safe. The fact that he could call them friends was still amazing to him. He had only tentatively allowed himself to become close to these people, partly due to his guilt, and partly hesitant of getting too close to anyone in fear of losing them.

A tender expression came over his face when his eyes reached Daisuke, who had taken it upon himself to teach V-mon how to dance in the hopes of impressing Tailmon, even though Ken very much doubted his friend actually knew the steps to a tango. Laughing as the auburn-haired boy tripped over V-mon's tail, Ken wondered, not for the first time, what he would do without the boy in his life. Daisuke was the only one, aside from Wormmon, who had always been steadfast in his belief of Ken's goodness, his _kindness_, even when Ken himself had been in doubt. Sometimes, Ken found himself questioning if what he felt for the other boy wasn't something more than merely friendship.

"What are you thinking about, Ken-kun?" Miyako asked, interrupting his thoughts. She was watching him closely, a shrewd expression on her face. "It must be something good, judging by that smile you're wearing."

Ken momentarily panicked: Miyako had always been able to read him better than Ken would have liked. He forced a smooth smile to his lips. "Just what a pretty night it is, Miyako-chan," he said, rising to his feet.

"Where are you going, Ken-chan?" asked Wormmon, face scrunched up in apprehension. His digimon worried too much, not that Ken could really blame him. He didn't have the best track record when it came to keeping himself out of trouble.

Ken smiled gently at the little green digimon. "To get a drink at that stream over there. Would you like to come?" His partner nodded vigorously, and the two friends made their way over to a bubbling stream just outside their campsite.

Crouching down to cup some of the cool water in his hands, Ken almost fell in when he caught sight of two eyes watching him from the reeds across the stream. He stood up quickly, stepping in front of Wormmon.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The eyes blinked at him. "I hoped one of you would find me here," said a soft, high-pitched voice. "I cannot stray far from the stone, you see." As Ken's eyes adjusted to the darkness he was able to make out the features of a small child sitting cross-legged and alone.

"Hello," said Wormmon politely. "It's been a while since I've seen you."

The boy nodded at him in a distracted sort of way. "Would you mind collecting the others?" he asked Ken. "You must get started on your quest. Things are already deteriorating faster than I expected."

"Quest?" Ken asked. The boy only stared at him expectantly. Sighing, Ken left Wormmon to wait with the boy, while he went to gather their friends.

"Ken!" Daisuke waved to the dark-haired boy as he approached the group. "We were just about to send a search-party out after you."

"Sorry," Ken told him, "but I found someone who wants to talk to us."

"Who?" Takeru asked.

"Gennai."

* * *

Miyako frowned as she looked down upon the boy who was Gennai. He looked much weaker than he had when they'd seen him earlier in the day, and was leaning against a stone that was shaped too carefully to be any sort of natural construct. She had recognized it instantly for what it was, having searched out enough of them to know. It was a Destiny Stone. 

After Ken had returned to the clearing with his unexpected news, they had quickly joined Wormmon at the stream. Gomamon had called on his fish friends to help them cross over to where Gennai sat with his legs crossed and his head drooping.

"Gennai," Taichi greeted him. "Did you think of another weight to put on our shoulders?"

"Taichi!" Sora admonished.

Gennai seemed unfazed. "If I had any other choice, I would not burden you with this," he said calmly. "But that fact remains that you are the best chance for this world, and for your own."

Taichi sighed in a weary way that was rare for him. "Sorry. It's been a long day."

"Gennai," Miyako asked, "what's wrong with you?"

"I used up most of my energy to appear in your world," he said. "And now I must use up the rest of it."

"What?" Hikari asked. "Why?"

"The Four must go back."

"The Four?" Koushiro murmured, before speaking up excitedly. "I recognize that! So you _did_ send the message!"

"Message…" Gennai looked thoughtful. "Maybe. Probably. It was a long time ago. I do know that I sent you instructions."

"Instructions? Instructions for what?" asked Yamato.

"Instructions on how to find the Artifacts."

"Gennai," Daisuke pleaded. "Try to make a little sense, would you?"

"The Artifacts, the things the remaining crests were transformed into. I sent you the instructions on how to find them. I knew I would forget when I was reconfigured, so I wrote them down for you."

The teenagers looked at each other, confused.

"Has he lost it?" Miyako heard Piyomon whisper to Gabumon.

Koushiro snapped his fingers. "I get it!" He turned to Miyako. "Do you still have that paper?"

Miyako stared at him for a brief moment, before catching on. "Oh!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out the crinkled note she had written the riddle on. "Yes, here."

She passed it to him, allowing her hand to brush his a just a bit longer than was strictly necessary, and was satisfied when the older boy went slightly crimson. Hawkmon raised an eyebrow and shot her a questioning look, to which she shrugged innocently.

"Uh, thanks," Koushiro said, clearing his throat. "Is this what you mean?" He leaned down to show Gennai the paper.

"Yes! Yes, this is it exactly. Wonderful." He rose to his knees. "Would one of you kindly help me stand?"

Takeru stepped forward and helped Gennai to his feet. "Careful," the blonde said, slipping an arm around the boy's shoulders when his legs trembled and almost gave out.

"Thank you," Gennai said. "Now, if the Four could step forward…you need to go back now, you see," he continued when none of them moved, "to free the Guardians."

"But, Gennai," Mimi asked for them all, "who are the Four?"

"Those who have crests, of course. You did not think that you could hope to defeat the digimon who are keeping the Guardians imprisoned without them, did you?"

Miyako instinctively closed one hand around her Crest of Compassion. "I guess that means me," she said, stepping up to Gennai and Takeru, Hawkmon fluttering close behind her.

Daisuke, Ken, and Iori also stepped forward with their digimon, while the other Chosen Children looked on in silence.

"Very good," Gennai said. "Now everyone place a hand on my arm. Takeru, step away, please." They did as he said.

"Wait!" Taichi said. "They have to go alone? What about the rest of us?"

"You have your own calling to fulfill," Gennai told him. A soft look came into his eyes. "Goodbye, children," he said, despite the fact that he was outwardly the youngest one there. "And good luck."

Miyako felt a strange warmth blossom beneath her fingers, and looked down to see that Gennai's skin had gone radiant under her hand. Suddenly, she realized that what she felt was energy in its purest form, Gennai's energy. At the same time, she recognized what was happening: he was sacrificing himself to send them back, using his own data to form their passage.

"Gennai!" Mimi cried out tearfully as he began to fade. Hikari turned away, ducking her face into Takeru's shoulder.

Miyako found herself locking eyes with Koushiro, who had chosen to disregard the horrifying scene of Gennai's destruction and was looking straight at her.

"Be careful," he mouthed.

"You, too," she murmured, giving him what she hoped passed for a reassuring smile.

"Bye, you guys!" Daisuke called out, as they began to rise into the air. Gennai was nothing more than a shadow by this point, and though Miyako's hand was still stretched out before her, there was no longer anything solid beneath it.

She shivered. Whatever they were about to do, Gennai obviously thought it was important enough to die for, and that made her more than a little nervous. Beside her, Hawkmon leaned over to whisper in her ear. "You're not alone. I'm with you, Miyako."

And that made all the difference in the world.

* * *

(1) Okay, so Mimi's digimon would have hatched as her baby form of Yuramon, not the in-training form of Tanemon, but think of how many evolutions I would have had to write into this story if I had all the digimon hatch as babies: too many. This is for your sake as much as it is for mine, trust me. 


	6. The Demon of Dispersion

Chapter Five: The Demon of Dispersion

Tailmon in her arms, Hikari ran, trying to escape the downpour. Takeru sprinted along beside her, Patamon flying just above his head in a noble attempt to shield his partner from the worst of it.

"I can see a cave!" Piyomon called above and ahead of them where she was scouting out shelter. "It's not too far ahead!"

"We'll follow you, Piyomon!" Taichi shouted above rain. "Come on, you guys!"

The eight remaining Chosen Children and their partners had watched the light that carried their friends between the worlds until it had winked out of existence, signaling the end of Gennai's power. The storm had started almost immediately afterward, coming upon them without warning, hard and heavy with all the force of a sledgehammer. As soon as the rain touched it, the forest had begun to seemingly melt away, which made Hikari wonder if the entire landscape had only been an illusion that Gennai had cast for them. Devoid of his influence, the land around them had reverted into a rocky wasteland. Yet, there was still colour, she noted, and was grateful. Without it, this place would have been too much like the Dark Ocean for her taste.

Hikari shivered: now was not the time to reflect on _that_ place. She needed to focus on running.

Tailmon was shaking in her arms, though whether from the cold or from her acute aversion to getting wet, Hikari could not tell. She tired to protect her partner as best as she could, but the rain was fast and firm, striking her bare face and arms like bullets. It stung, and she let out an involuntary yelp. Takeru must have said something to Patamon, because a moment later the pain lessened and she looked up to see the little orange digimon flying above her.

"Thank you, Patamon," Tailmon said for both of them. Hikari turned gratefully toward Takeru, but he was staring straight ahead, intent on reaching the shelter of which Piyomon had spoken.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, they reached the cave, soaked to the bone and gasping for breath.

"I don't remember it ever being like this before," said Mimi. She was shaking badly, and Hikari had never seen the girl so disheveled.

"Neither do I," Palmon said, huddling closer to Mimi, "and this is my _home_."

"It'll clear up," said Takeru, ever the optimist. "It's only rain."

Sora nodded in agreement. "And at least we're safe."

"For now," added Jyou, looking around them. He frowned. "What's that?"

Hikari followed his gaze, peering into the darkness. "Oh!" she cried out in surprise. Something was glowing, faintly, from the back of the cave.

"Let's check it out," Taichi said, and they made their way toward the light.

They had to walk a while, following a path that twisted deeper into the cave, narrowing as it went, until they entered a larger space, a cavern within a cavern. As they drew closer, it became clear that the glow was emanating from what looked like some sort of crystal, suspended in midair.

"It's beautiful," said Mimi. "Like a diamond."

Hikari reached out tentatively, her fingertips connecting with a smooth, cold substance. "It's…ice."

"Why is it here?" Koushiro wondered aloud.

Tentomon hovered over the sphere, peering down into it. "There appears to be something inside of it."

Jyou leaned closer to get a better look. "It's some sort of musical instrument," he said in surprise. "A flute, maybe."

Hikari bent forward with her hands pressed up against the ice, trying to glimpse what Jyou had seen. "It _is_ a flute," she said in astonishment. "And it has the Crest of Friendship on it!"

They turned to Yamato, who was staring thoughtfully at the orb. "Maybe…maybe it's my Artifact, or whatever Gennai called it."

"Any ideas on how to get it out of the frozen ball of ice?" Jyou asked, rapping his knuckles against its surface.

"Just one," Taichi grinned. "Agumon, do it!"

"Baby Flame!" cried Agumon.

It was a good idea, Hikari had to admit, even if it had come from her brother. Yet, they all watched as the ice somehow absorbed the energy, not heating up at all.

"Sorry," Agumon said, "but I guess melting it isn't an option."

Next they tried to chip away at the ice using the sharp rocks that were scattered about the cave, but it was like trying to crack steel with chalk and the rocks crumbled in their hands.

"Any other suggestions?" asked Takeru. Try as they might, they couldn't come up with anything, and the exhaustion from the past day was starting to catch up with them.

Gomamon let out a yawn. "I think I need a nap," he said.

Koushiro nodded. "I'd say we could all use some sleep. I'm sure that a clearer solution to this problem will present itself in the morning, when our minds are fresh."

Hikari couldn't argue with that. Nor could anyone else, and so they headed back through the tunnel to the entrance of the cave. The rock floor wasn't exactly comfortable, but as she lay down with Tailmon curled up by her head and Taichi and Takeru flanking her from a little ways off, she at least felt secure.

At least, she _did_, until a tendril of darkness crept its way into her mind, igniting a rush of terror within her. "Ah!" She bolted up from the ground, causing Tailmon to hiss in surprise.

"What is it?" asked Taichi, concerned.

"I felt…" Hikari paused. What _had_ she felt? Whatever it was, it had slipped back into whatever dark place it had come from.

"Hikari-chan?" Takeru was looking at her with worry in his blue eyes.

She shook her head, trying to calm her racing heart. "It's nothing," she said. "I must have just imagined it." She could tell Takeru didn't believe her, and she knew for a fact that Tailmon didn't, but they let it go.

Hikari lay back down, but she didn't sleep for a long time.

* * *

Later that night, Yamato sat at the mouth of the cave, watching the lightning make mysterious patterns across the sky. The storm hadn't lessened any since they'd arrived. He wondered if that meant something. It wasn't that he believed in omens, but everyone knew how acutely Hikari could sense evil, and her earlier outburst had startled him. 

A noise from behind him made him turn his head, and he smiled a little as Gabumon approached.

"Sora says that you should come back inside," the digimon told him, "and I'm inclined to agree with her. What are you doing out here, Yamato?"

"Thinking. I'm wondering what to do about that flute."

Gabumon rested a paw on Yamato's shoulder. "We'll figure it out. We always have before."

A wry smile stole over the blonde's face. "Just like old times, eh?"

"Mm. A little _too_ much so, perhaps."

Yamato sobered instantly. "Do you think a Dark Master is behind all this?"

"Maybe," Gabumon answered sagely. "If so, then we need to concentrate on finding Gennai's Artifacts. He did say that was the only way to restore the balance."

Yamato nodded, and rose. "I need to stretch my legs a bit. I'm going for a walk."

"In that?" Gabumon asked, gesturing outside.

"I won't be gone long."

"I'm coming with you."

"No," Yamato shook his head. "You'd better stay here. If your fur gets wet, you'll stink." He placed a friendly hand on the digimon's head to let him know he was only kidding.

Gabumon didn't need to be told. He knew that his partner sometimes needed his space, and he knew the real reason Yamato wanted him to stay behind. It had always gone unspoken between them that first and foremost, Takeru needed to be protected. Sora as well, lately, if Gabumon was correct in his thinking.

"See you soon, Gabumon."

And Gabumon watched as Yamato slipped into the night.

* * *

Takeru dreamed. 

He dreamed that he was standing on a flat, barren stretch of land, with no end to it in sight, no horizons. The light was dim, its origin unclear. He looked around him, desperately seeking out a familiar face.

"Patamon!" he called. "Yamato! Hikari!"

Suddenly, his vision went red. Staring up into the sky, Takeru watched in fascination as thousands upon thousands of red flowers drifted down toward him.

_Poppies_, he thought.

The flowers began to fall faster, and the air soon became thick with their scent. It was almost like it was raining blood. A shout rang out through the air.

"Takeru!"

It was Hikari's voice.

"Hikari!" he called, pushing his way through the curtain of petals. "Hikari-chan, where are you?"

He searched as best he could, wading through a sea of petals that came to his knees. It was imperative that he find her. "I can't see you, Hikari," he cried out desperately. "Where are you? Please, answer me!"

The poppies were smothering him now, and he began to choke. "No! No, please! I have to find her, I'm the only one that can-" Takeru failed to finish his words, his airway blocked by the horrible poppies.

He woke then, sweating and shaking, but the choking sensation did not disappear.

"Hello, Takeru," his brother said, hands tight around Takeru's throat. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

* * *

"Sora." 

The voice drifted into her mind, pulling her slowly back into consciousness.

"Sora, wake up."

Blinking, Sora opened her eyes. "Yamato?" she said groggily. "What's wrong?"

Yamato was crouched in front of her, a serious look in his deep blue eyes. "You and Piyomon need to come with me, quickly."

Puzzled, but trusting, Sora roused her partner. "Piyomon, wake up."

"Sora? Yamato?" the pink digimon glanced back and forth between them. "What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain," Yamato said. "Come on."

He stood, offering Sora his hand. She took it, gazing around in confusion. "Where is everyone else?"

"They're waiting for us," Yamato replied, pulling her along toward the passage that led to the chamber where they had discovered the orb of ice. Piyomon hopped along behind them, her eyes flitting about nervously in the dark. However, like Sora, she trusted Yamato, and followed without protest.

It took Sora a bit of time to process what was happening, her mind still hazy from sleep, but as they made their way deeper into the cave, she began to realize how strange the situation really was. Not only was Yamato behaving distant toward her, which he hadn't done since they were children, but there was absolutely no sign of the other Chosen, not even voices that would surely have echoed back from wherever they were.

"Where are we going, Yamato?"

There was no reply.

Another thought occurred to her. "Where's Gabumon?" she demanded.

Silence.

Frustrated, she stopped, jerking her hand from Yamato's grasp. "Yamato, answer me!"

He whirled to face her. "Shut up!" he yelled, striking her cheek with the palm of one raised hand.

Piyomon gasped, flying up to hover defensively between the boy and her partner. "Should I blast him, Sora?"

Sora couldn't speak. She raised a trembling hand to her stinging cheek. He had never hit her before, never even raised his voice. It didn't matter how much he looked like Yamato: this person could not be her boyfriend.

"You're not Yamato."

The creature grinned maliciously at her, a terrible expression on such a beautiful face. "That's right, little girl," it said in a raspy voice. "I'm not."

Piyomon had heard enough. "Magical Fi- ack!"

The creature flicked a lazy hand toward the little digimon, sending her spinning through the air.

"Piyomon!" Sora cried. Her partner was plastered against the wall, black bindings on her wings and legs, preventing all movement. Sora turned angrily to the creature. "Who are you?"

The thing smiled evilly. "I am Choronzomon." He pulled her closer to him, and raised one hand to grasp her chin, drawing her lips toward his. "But you can call me _goshujin-sama_." (1)

Sora screamed.

* * *

(1) G_oshujin-sama_ is the formal address for "husband" in Japanese, just to make Choronzomon ever creepier. 


	7. Four Go Alone

Chapter Six: Four Go Alone

"Oof!"

Iori landed with a grunt, Upamon popping out of his arms and onto the grass beside him. He lay for a moment, flexing his limbs to check for broken bones, before coming to the conclusion that while he hurt, there had been no serious damage done to his body. Holding one hand against his head, Iori sat up and looked around. They were in the park, and it was just past dawn, if the sun peeking up over the distant cityscape was any indication. He was relieved to see that Miyako, Daisuke, and Ken had landed nearby with their digimon.

"Is everyone all right?" Iori asked.

"I…think so," Miyako said, sitting up and brushing hair from her eyes, Poromon hovering just over her shoulder.

Daisuke was on his hands and knees, looking ill. "Ugh. I feel like I did that time we decided to ride the roller coaster at Tokyo Dome City six times in a row."

Ken reached over and patted him on the back. "At least you haven't thrown up…er, yet." He backed away a bit, to which Daisuke stuck out his tongue. Iori rolled his eyes at them.

"Hey!" Miyako suddenly said, staring at her watch. "It's the wrong time!"

They stared at her. "Maybe your batteries ran out," Daisuke suggested.

"No, baka." She made a face at him. "I mean it's not the same time as it was when we were in the Digiworld. It was just after dark there, remember?"

Iori checked his own watch, intrigued. "She's right. And we couldn't have been traveling for that long."

Ken looked thoughtful. "But does that mean that time is going faster here or in the Digiworld?"

"Well," Miyako said, "Time had pretty much equalized when we were there, but I know that when the original Chosen Children went to the digital world for the first time, time went a lot _slower_ here. I mean, Koushiro-san told me that they were gone for months, but returned to find only a few days had passed in our world."

"So...this is confusing, but maybe we when we left the Digiworld it was already tonight there," Daisuke said, looking dizzy from the possibility. "Right now has already happened, because everything is faster there."

"Maybe," Ken said. "But does that mean we have more time to free the Guardians or less?"

It was a good question, and they were all silent, considering. Iori felt the weight of their task settle down upon them like a quilt of lead. It was almost overwhelming. He stood, scooping Upamon up into his arms. "We should get going. We need to get to Kyoto."

Miyako got to her feet as well. "Right. Should we take the train?"

"That's probably the fastest way," Iori agreed. He turned and started to walk in the direction of the train station. He figured he had just enough money in his pocket for a one-way ticket, and Upamon could be easily snuck on board as a toy. Although, he thought ruefully, not many thirteen year olds still carried around stuffed animals. Suddenly, a tentative hand grasped his shoulder.

"Iori," Ken said. "It's Sunday. The trains don't run this early." He smiled, a bit ruefully. "I should know."

Iori felt himself slump a little. "Oh…."

"I've got an idea," Miyako said brightly. "Why don't we all go home and get a bit of rest and grab a bite to eat, and then we can meet at the stationto catch the first train to Kyoto. That way we'll be fresh when we face off against…well, against whatever's waiting for us."

"That sounds pretty good to me," said Daisuke. "I'd really like a change of clothes…."

As the other boy trailed off, Iori noticed for the first time that both Daisuke and Ken still wore their soccer uniforms, cleats and all, from the evening before. He could see how they might want to change into something a bit more practical for fighting evil digimon. It was logical, certainly, but he didn't like the thought of wasting any more time than they already had, especially when their friends in the Digiworld may well be fighting for their lives by now.

"Iori," Upamon said, interruptinghis thoughts, "I'm really hungry." He gazed up at him, widening his eyes for effect, and Iori almost smiled despite himself.

"Okay," he said, not really seeing any other option. "Let's all go home then."

"Yay!" Upamon cheered. "We get to eat, da'gya!"

"What time is the first train, Ken-kun?" Miyako wanted to know.

"Ten o'clock, I think," the dark-haired boy replied, glancing at his watch. "Which means we should meet at the station in about four hours."

Iori frowned as a troubling thought crossed his mind. "What about the others' families? We need to contact them."

Miyako nodded. "You're right. But what do we tell them?"

"The truth," Daisuke said simply. "They've all been through this before, right?"

"True," Miyako said. "So should we each call some of them?"

"That's probably best," Ken said, and then pursed his lips in that way he did when he didn't like what he was about to say. "I don't mean to somehow try to get out of helping, but I don't really know any of -"

Daisuke cut him off. "Don't worry about it. We'll get it done between the three of us."

Iori narrowed his eyes a bit, and was about to say something about sharing responsibility, but before he could open his mouth, Miyako spoke up.

"Right," she said, casting a warning glace at Iori. "There are only seven calls that need to be made. I'll call Koushiro-san, Mimi-san, and Sora-san's families."

"I'll take the Yagami's," Daisuke said quickly. "And Ishida-san has a soft spot for me, I think, so I'll call him, too."

"I guess that leaves me with the Kido's and Takeru's mother," Iori said, not really minding.

"Thanks." Ken looked grateful, and Iori found himself suddenly sympathetic toward the older boy. Iori had never felt that close to the other Chosen Children, with the obvious exception of Miyako who was like a sister to him, but he still knew them better than Ken did.

"I should get going, if I'm going to make my bus," Ken said.

Daisuke frowned at him. "You're not going back to Tamachi, are you? Just come over to my place."

Ken shook his head. "Thanks, but I need to talk to my parents, and it's probably better if I do it face to face." He headed toward the street. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"Bye!" Minomon called over Ken's shoulder.

Chibimon waved after him, and then bounced over to his partner's side. "Come on, Daisuke! Let's go get breakfast!"

"Relax," Daisuke said, laughing as the little digimon tugged on his pant leg. "I'm coming." He turned toward Iori and Miyako. "Later, guys!"

Iori and Miyako watched him disappear down the path, before starting toward their own apartment building.

They were quiet for a long time, each spinning the situation around in their own mind, trying to see it from all angles. Miyako would be looking at it scientifically, Iori knew, analyzing each separate aspect individually, to see how it all connected. Iori wasn't so methodical. He tended to focus on the whole picture, viewing it in his mind as if from a great height, looking over the entire landscape of the problem. The trouble was, there were gaps between what they knew for sure, spaces that could only be filled by experience.

"What are you thinking, Iori-kun?" Miyako asked softly, glancing over at him. Iori met her eyes, glad that he had finally caught up to her in terms of height.

"I'm thinking that we're flying blind on this one," he said truthfully, knowing that she wouldn't expect anything less from him. "And I don't like it one bit."

* * *

There was a police officer waiting by the front door. 

Inwardly, Ken cringed, but he approached the man calmly: he had been half-expecting this. The officer raised his brows, and ducked inside the door, calling for Ken's parents.

His mother was hysterical, as Ken had known she would be, though that fact didn't make him feel any less guilty. He had suspected that his parents had never quite believed that their son had made a full recovery from everything that had happened three years ago, that he would never be psychologically stable. Ken thought differently, but he could hardly blame them, even if it was irritating not to be trusted. He had tried very hard over the last few years to be the perfect son to make up for his past, never once missing a curfew, always making top grades despite the loss of his genius. He thought calling the police had been an overreaction on their part- surely he deserved some amount of confidence from them by now.

But that just wasn't how things were, and so he would have to play politics with his own parents.

Ken had explained the situation once before, had told them how he had become involved with the digimon, and all the reasons why he had to protect them. He couldn't fault them for their concern -they had already lost one son, after all- but their smothering overprotection was a little too much to take. His father kept asking "Why, Ken? Why do you have to go?" over and over again as if it were a choice Ken had made just to hurt them. How could he explain what it was like to be a Chosen Child? How could he explain the need to atone for his sins in a world his parents hardly believed existed?

It couldn't be done. All Ken could do was apologize, and tell them he loved them, and that he would be home just as soon as he could.

It was his mother who finally accepted it, wiping her eyes on her apron. Ken didn't know whether to be relieved or alarmed by her resignation, until met her eyes, and something passed between them. It was as if she was finally seeing him for what he was, not as some little boy hiding in his brother's shadow.

"I think," she said, placing a steady hand on her husband's arm to stop his desperate rant, "that this is something Ken needs to do. Isn't it, Ken?"

"Yes," he told her quietly. "It really is."

"Then you have our support." The words loosened some of the tightness that had formed in his chest. He would be going to Kyoto regardless, but he couldn't deny his need for their support. "Just," his mother's voice caught on the word. "Just come back."

"Don't worry, Ichijouji-san," Minomon spoke up from where he had been resting silently in Ken's arms. "I would never let anything happen to Ken-chan."

His parents stared at the digimon, as if they had forgotten he was even there. His father looked skeptical about the tiny creature's ability to protect his son, but his mother's face had softened.

"Thank you," she said, smiling down at the digimon.

Wormmon blushed, and Ken chuckled a little. "He always takes good care of me." He looked at his parents, deciding to end to negotiations with a few last irresistible words. "Just like you."

* * *

Daisuke turned over again in bed, unable to surrender his exhaustion. His anticipation was making him restless, and he finally gave up, throwing off his covers. 

A whimper made him look down, and his smiled softly at Chibimon who was curled up on the pillow. Daisuke pulled the blanket up over the little digimon. "Sleep tight, little guy," he whispered.

He padded over to his desk and slumped into the chair, absently picking up a pencil. He began to doodle on a scrap of paper in an attempt to dispel some energy, not really paying attention to what he was drawing. Sighing, he brought his other hand to his chin, leaning on it as he gazed across his desk and out the window. The morning had grown cloudy, the dark sky foretelling rain. Not a superstitious person by any means, Daisuke didn't really think of the weather as any sort of omen, but if they were going to be fighting, he would much rather have clear skies, especially since most of their digimon's higher forms involved flight.

He glanced back down at the paper he was writing on, and almost dropped his pencil in surprise. He had drawn his crest. Cocking his head to one side, Daisuke considered the symbol on the page before him, the quartered circle bordered by four smaller triangles. The Crest of Loyalty.

Even now, he could hardly believe it: he finally had his own crest! Daisuke had always been proud to be the Chosen Child of both Courage and Friendship, but at the same time he had felt as if he had not so much earned the title as he had borrowed it from Taichi and Yamato. When Ken had been given the Crest of Kindness, Daisuke had been admittedly envious, and since then he had always hoped to one day discover a virtue that was truly his own. And now he had.

A thump from the room next to his brought his attention back to the present. Jun was awake then, probably getting dressed. His parents weren't up yet, but then they hadn't gone to sleep until he'd arrived home. After the initial yelling -more from anxiety than true anger Daisuke reasoned, a bit guiltily- his parents had calmed down enough to listen to his story, taking everything in with growing horror and fascination. They believed him, taking into account what had happened three years ago, but that didn't make them any happier about the situation.

Daisuke sighed again. It was easy to forget that his involvement in the Digiworld affected other people besides him and his friends. He didn't like worrying his family like this, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Ken was probably having a harder time explaining himself, and Daisuke outwardly winced at the thought of dealing with his friend's overprotective parents.

It was different for people like the Yagami's. When Daisuke had called earlier, Mrs. Yagami had almost seemed to be expecting it, listening quietly before thanking him. It was true that of all of them Taichi and Hikari had been most involved with the digital world, so it made sense that their parents would be relatively accustomed to their strange disappearances by now. It was probably the same for the rest of the original Chosen Children's families, though he'd been unable to test that theory since Mr. Ishida hadn't answered the phone. Daisuke had left a message on the Ishida's answering machine, awkwardly explaining where Yamato and Takeru had disappeared to before quickly hanging up.

A glance at the clock told him that he needed to leave soon if he wanted to make it to the train station on time: if he didn't, Miyako would never let him hear the end of it. He should probably wake Chibimon. Standing, Daisuke raised his arms in a much-needed stretch. He paused mid-yawn as a sudden thought grabbed hold of him, and his hands flew to his head.

Daisuke dashed over to his closet, sliding onto his knees to rummage about in the back. He bit his lip in concentration, feeling around in the dark, fingers tracing over old clothes, comic books, a soccer ball, something decidedly slimy, and…ah, there it was! He pulled his hand back, fingers hooked around his prize.

Standing triumphantly, Daisuke fitted the goggles to his head, snapping the straps back to hold them in place. He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror that hung on the back of his door, wondering at the confidence the sight of Taichi's old goggles instilled in him. There was no way they could lose, especially now that he had his good luck charm.

The goggles glinted in the light, almost winking at him, and Daisuke grinned.

* * *

Miyako dodged one final puddle, before pushing open the heavy doors that marked the entrance to Odaiba station. Brushing droplets of rain from her hair, she gazed around, shivering slightly as her damp skin reacted to the cool, air-conditioned room. 

"Do you see them?" Poromon asked, peering out over the top of her jacket, which she had buttoned up around him to keep him dry and out of sight.

"No, but we're late, so they probably bought their tickets already and went to wait on the platform," Miyako replied, walking over to join the line at the ticket booth.

It had taken a bit longer than she had thought it would to make her phone calls to the other Chosen Children's parents. Mr. Takenouchi in particular had kept her on the line for almost half an hour with inquires about the digimon that had appeared in Kyoto. He had been interested not only for his daughter's sake, but also for academic reasons stemming from his research. Miyako had answered his questions as best as she could, but had finally had to admit that she really didn't know all that much about it, which wasn't entirely unusual when it came to the digital world. Then she had had to explain everything to her own family, which had not exactly been easy. Miyako would have covered all her siblings' shifts on top of her own at the convenience store to get out of that conversation.

But they had made it, at last, and her father had even lent her the money for a train ticket. "Make sure you get a two-way ticket," he had said anxiously, which had unnerved Miyako a bit. Did they really think that she wouldn't come back?

She finally reached the window of the ticket booth, and smiled politely at the bored looking woman inside. "One return ticket to Kyoto please."

The woman raised an eyebrow at the lump inside of Miyako's jacket, but said nothing as she handed her the ticket. Miyako tucked it into her pocket and followed a crowd of people out onto the platform.

"Help me find them," she whispered to Poromon, pulling the digimon from her coat to hold him in her arms, hoping that he would be mistaken for a stuffed animal.

They walked down the platform, searching for familiar faces. Miyako was beginning to wonder why there were so many people for this train, until she overheard a boy talking excitedly to his friend, and remembered the news report Jyou had mentioned.

"I can't wait to see the monsters! I bet they'll be just like those ones we saw on the Internet a few years back."

_Great_, Miyako thought. _This is a rescue mission, but the last thing we need is a bunch of tourists putting themselves in danger._ They would have to be extra cautious with their attacks.

"There!" Poromon suddenly said, flapping his wings excitedly. "I can see them!"

Miyako followed his gaze, and was relieved to see the boys waving them over. She began pushing her way through the crowd. "Sorry we're late," she said as she approached.

Daisuke smirked, but for once refrained from taunting her. Miyako suspected that this had less to do with any maturity on his part and more to do with a few preemptive words from a certain dark-haired friend of theirs.

"Actually, you're right on time," Ken told her, indicating the slow-moving train that was just pulling up to the platform.

They moved with the crowd that flowed toward the cars. "I take it you guys have already figured out why all these people are here," Miyako said, glaring at a little girl in pigtails who shoved her from behind.

Iori nodded. "They heard the news and want to see the digimon."

"Sort of like us," Daisuke added. "Except that we know what we're getting into."

Miyako wondered about that, but said nothing as she handed her ticket to the attendant. The man checked it, and motioned for her to board. _Here we go again_, she thought.

Miyako took a breath, and stepped onto the train.


	8. The Hour of the Wolf

Chapter Seven: The Hour of the Wolf

Something was very wrong.

Yamato had known that even before he had returned to the cave to find all of his friends, including Gabumon, missing. It was not so much an abstract feeling as it was profound, overpowering knowledge that evil had come. Yamato had never been able to predict darkness like his brother or Hikari, but he had felt it, and it was a feeling that could never be forgotten or mistaken for anything else.

Following distant voices that echoed back to him in the dark, one of which sounded distinctly like Sora, Yamato raced into the tunnel that led to the cavern they had discovered. The voices grew clearer as he ran deeper into the cave, feet pounding hard on the stony trail. One was definitely Sora, and there was another that sounded somehow familiar but that he couldn't quite place.

Then he heard a sound that made his blood freeze in his veins: Sora screamed.

Lengthening his strides to an all out sprint, Yamato rounded the last turn and came face to face with…himself.

It was like looking into a mirror, except the expression that the other wore was cruel and full of cool arrogance, contorting the normally handsome features into something hateful and ugly. The creature was leaning down toward Sora, looking for all the world as if it were about to kiss her, despite the girl's pleas and desperate struggling to get away.

Yamato felt raw fury blaze up inside of him and he charged forward. "Get away from her!"

The creature looked surprised for a moment, then laughed, shoving Sora to the ground.

"Yamato!" she cried in palpable relief.

"So, you decided to join us at last, Child of Friendship?" It was his voice, but not. "Ah, but can you really have friendship without friends?" The creature gestured to the wall behind him.

And there, illuminated by the light of the orb, which was glowing impassively in the dark, Yamato could see his friends. They were strapped to the wall, even the digimon, and they stared at him helplessly. A few, such as Taichi, were thrashing hard against their bonds, but it was obviously in vain. He sought out Gabumon and Takeru, and was relieved to find that they seemed unharmed, though they both looked extremely frustrated at the situation.

Yamato glared at the creature. "Let them go."

The thing laughed, and Yamato tried not to shudder at such a horrible sound coming from a body that was just like his. "Why would I do that? I'm just getting started with them. You should stick around to watch, you might enjoy it. I know I certainly will."

"I am nothing like you," Yamato told him. "Show your true form!"

"Oh? But what if this is my true form? What if I am the embodiment of the evil inside of you?"

That made Yamato pause. Could it be possible? He knew he had darkness within him, because that darkness had manifested physically as a cave of sorts once, trapping him and Gabumon in a world of despair. Was he the one holding his friends captive now with that inescapably dark part of himself? This was the digital world, after all: anything was possible.

Gabumon's voice pulled him from his troubled thoughts. "Yamato does not have anything so evil as you inside of him, and he never will! The only thing he has in his heart is goodness, and he will defeat you!"

The conviction in his partner's voice, his belief, gave Yamato new strength. "Who are you?" he demanded of the creature. "What do you want with us?"

"Yamato," Sora began, crawling toward him, "his name is Choronzomon and- "

"I thought I told you to shut up!" the demon that was Choronzomon yelled, and sent a wave of dark energy in Sora's direction that flung her against the wall where the others were restrained. She impacted it with audible force, and slid to the ground, unconscious.

"Sora!" Piyomon screamed, tears running down her feathered face.

Yamato tried to run to her, but Choronzomon had changed form into something not unlike a giant black squid with red eyes and a huge, gaping mouth. One of the demon's many tentacles shot out toward the running boy.

"Yamato, look out!" Taichi called to him.

It was too late. Choronzomon had grabbed him about the neck, lifting the blonde up to face him. "If that's the way you want to play, then maybe you shouldn't play at all," he rasped, opening his mouth to seemingly swallow the boy whole.

Yamato leaned back away from him, his feet kicking wildly in the air. He found he could not look away from the creature's mouth, which opened up into a place that was darker than the blackest night. For the first time, he was really, truly afraid.

Suddenly, there came a growl that shook the air like thunder. Yamato's eyes widened in shock: Gabumon had somehow evolved into Garurumon, shattering his bindings. The champion digimon now stood snarling menacingly up at the demon that held Yamato captive.

"What?" Choronzomon cried in disbelief. "Impossible!"

Garurumon leapt, clawing at the demon's face. Choronzomon howled in pain, dropping Yamato to the ground. Yamato quickly ran over the others, first checking Sora's pulse, relieved to find it steady, before turning the others. He tugged at Takeru's binding, but it was useless.

A yelp of pain echoed through the cave, and Yamato whirled around to see Garurumon blasted into a wall by a bolt of energy let loose by a laughing Choronzomon, a shower of rocky debris falling down on top of him. The wolf was clearly outmatched.

Yamato clenched his fists, eyes blazing with blue fury. "Garurumon, evolve!"

The wolf was shook his head. "I tried already, I can't," he said, ducking one of Choronzomon's flailing tentacles. "I'm sorry, Yamato."

Yamato squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. This was his fault: if he hadn't left, this wouldn't be happening. Even as he thought it, a part of him recognized the thought as irrational. He couldn't give in to his despair, not this time. His friends were in danger, because of him, and he was the only one that could do something about it. _I am _not_ going to give up!_

"Nii-chan!" Takeru suddenly cried. "Look!"

Yamato followed his brother's wide-eyed gaze, and gasped. The sphere of ice, the one in which the Artifact was trapped, had begun to melt. At the same time, Yamato felt his palm begin to warm and he looked down to see the imprint of his crest burning brightly against his flesh. A large crack resounded through the air and his eyes flew back to the orb. It had split in two, revealing its treasure. The flute glistened with drops of water, and the Crest of Friendship inscribed on its surface was lit to mirror the one on Yamato's hand.

"No!" cried Choronzomon, reaching for it. "It is _mine_!"

But Yamato was there first.

He dove to the ground, the flute clutched in his hands. The moment his fingers touched the cool, blue-grey metal he knew what to do. Bringing the instrument to his lips, he began to play. It was strange, because somehow his hands knew exactly how to move, and though the melody he played was one he'd never heard before, he somehow knew it by heart. The pure, rich sound that filled the cave was nothing like the scratchy notes of his old harmonica.

Garurumon responded instantly to the music, howling in triumph. "Garurumon shinka…WereGarurumon!"

Lowering the flute, Yamato grinned in amazement. "Get him, WereGarurumon!"

"Kaiser Nail!"

Choronzomon cried out in pain and rage, clutching at the places where WereGarurumon's claws had pierced his skin. A black fog filled the cave as what Yamato could describe only as _pure darkness _seeped from the demon's body.

"He will destroy you!" Choronzomon screamed as his form began to disintegrate. "I shall have my revenge!" Then he was gone, the fog drifting away. The bindings that had been holding the other Chosen Children captive disappeared with him.

Yamato cradled Sora's head in his lap. "Sora…"

She stirred, and opened her eyes. "Yamato." She sounded relieved. "It's really you this time."

He smiled, brushing a light hand over her face, and then frowned as she flinched. "He did this to you?" he asked, noticing for the first time the discoloured patch of skin on her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Sora."

Sora reached up and placed her hand over his, pressing it against her face. "It wasn't you," she said seriously, making sure he met her eyes.

"I'd never- "

"I know."

He smiled at her anticipation of his guilt. "I love you."

She grinned. "I know that, too."

* * *

It had stopped raining almost as soon as Choronzomon had been destroyed. 

Mimi had been delighted by this at first, tired of soggy clothes and runny make-up, but then Jyou had stated the possibility that the storm had been an invention of the dark digimon to lure them to the shelter provided by the cave, and all of her delight had evaporated like the rain. It had been a trap, and they had fallen for it. What was even worse, though she would never admit it aloud, was that when Choronzomon had taken Yamato's form, Mimi had almost believed it actually was her friend, and she did not like to think that they could be turned against each other so easily.

Mimi rubbed nervously at her wrists where the bindings had cut into her skin, the red marks contrasting strangely with the white outline of the crest that had been burned into her palm. She had never been a tattoo kind of girl, but if she had, the Crest of Purity would have been her first choice as a design, so she supposed it wasn't all that bad. Besides, it made her feel somehow closer to Palmon, an effect to which Mimi would never object.

At the moment, Palmon was standing with Piyomon, watching as the Chosen Children debated the advantages of splitting up to look for the other Artifacts, since Yamato's had proved to be so useful. Mimi, never one to enjoy an argument, had decided to let the other's decide what to do. She lounged on a rock nearby, watching over the proceedings.

"Look," Taichi was saying, "we'd be able to cover a lot more ground if we split up."

Hikari met her brother's eyes. "But we're stronger as a team."

Mimi found herself agreeing with the younger girl, who, she noticed, wasn't so young anymore. Hikari had definitely grown up, and the outfit she wore – a purple tank top embroidered with pink sakura blossoms that had a Chinese-style collar, and a pair of jean Capri pants that Mimi was considering asking if she could borrow once they returned home – accented her slight curviness.

_Takeru is either stupid or blind_, Mimi decided, though she had never questioned the boy's intelligence.

Of course, now was not the time to be wondering about romances within their little group. She let out a small sigh, and fanned herself with her hand. It was approaching noon and the sun rose hot above them, a great contrast to the freezing downpour of the night before. She wished the weather would make up its mind.

"Technically," Koushiro said, "I agree with Hikari: we have always been able to do the most good when we all worked together. However, we don't have a lot of time on our hands."

"Koushiro is right," Tentomon put in. "The digital world is running out of time."

Mimi glanced over at Palmon, who she could see was nodding ever so slightly in agreement. She pursed her lips- time was something they never seemed to have.

"Maybe we should vote on this," Jyou proposed diplomatically.

"All right," Taichi agreed. "All those in favour of splitting up?"

Only Hikari, Takeru, and Patamon did not raise their hands.

"Tailmon!"

The cat-like digimon shrugged. "Sorry, Hikari, but I think it's best if we find the Artifacts as soon as possible. The digital world is disintegrating as we speak, you see?" She pointed to the sky, and they all gasped at the sight of a distant cityscape, upside-down above them. Mimi thought she could make out the Empire State Building, but she wasn't sure.

"It's settled then," said Taichi resolutely. "We can search in two groups of four."

"Eight," Agumon said.

"Right, sorry. Two groups of eight," Taichi corrected. "How about…me, Hikari, Koushiro and Mimi in one group and Yamato, Sora, Takeru, and Jyou in the other?"

It made sense, Mimi thought, that Taichi would keep the families together, since both older boys were protective of their siblings and would worry. They probably couldn't afford to have distractions like that.

Takeru apparently thought differently. "I don't think it's a good idea to split up the angel-type digimon. Patamon and Tailmon fight best together."

It was a valid point, but Mimi wasn't fooled. _Maybe not so blind then_, she thought a bit smugly.

Hikari voiced her agreement, and Taichi exchanged a glance with Yamato before consenting. "Okay, fine. Takeru can switch places with Koushiro, if that's all right with everyone?"

Mimi blinked in surprised. She had assumed that Taichi would send her to the other group, seeing as he and Koushiro were much better friends. A little warmth formed in her chest, but she forced it aside.

"That sounds fine," Koushiro replied, then changed the subject completely by pulling out the note Miyako had given him. "I think we should go over the instructions Gennai left us."

"Good idea," said Sora.

"It seems like the last part is most relevant, since the first bit was mostly about Kyoto and what the others need to do there."

"Read it to us," Taichi suggested.

"_Eight tools cast to help fight the foe; free the captives or all shall fall to ash and woe_," Koushiro recited. "_Two are born of shadow, from fire only one, three in forms of water, and two are trapped in stone._"

"So the 'tools' are the Artifacts, obviously," said Yamato. "The rest of it sounds like it's telling us where to find them."

"Well," Jyou said thoughtfully, "ice is definitely a form of water, and that's where we found Yamato's flute."

Koushiro nodded. "Right. I guess that means we're looking for two more in water, two in stone, and one in fire- that could mean a volcano or something, perhaps."

Mimi didn't really like the idea of searching in a volcano. It was hot enough out here as it was. "What does 'born of shadow' mean?" she asked, speaking for the first time.

No one had any answers for her, and Mimi shifted uncomfortably in the sticky heat.

"What do you suppose Choronzomon meant when he referred to a 'Master'?" Takeru said quietly. "I don't like that at all, the implication that there's some great evil orchestrating all of this."

Taichi looked to the digimon. "Any ideas?"

Gabumon, having reverted back to his rookie stage, shook his head. "We're not sure. This world isn't the way it was before, so we don't know any more than you do."

"I think the most we can do," Gomamon said, "is to destroy anything that opposes us."

"It's different this time," Tailmon added, before Hikari could protest hurting other digimon. "They aren't being controlled by gears, or rings, or anything like that. These are actual evil creatures, and we have to destroy them to restore the light."

They were all quiet for a moment, realizing the gravity of their task.

"All right, then," Taichi finally spoke up, a determined expression on his face. "We'd better get going." He squinted out over the landscape. "My group will go that way, towards those mountains in the distance. Maybe we'll come across a volcano," he said, winking at Koushiro.

The other boy rolled his eyes. "It's only a theory, Taichi."

Yamato laid a hand on Takeru's shoulder. "Take care of each other."

"We will," Takeru told him. He gave his brother a small smile, before hurrying to catch up to Taichi and Hikari who had already started walking away.

Palmon also followed, calling, "Hurry up, Mimi!"

Mimi stood, wincing a bit as her bare feet touched the hot sand. She wished she worn different shoes, ones that she could actually walk in here, but how was she to have known they were going to the Digiworld?

Sora shot her a sympathetic look. "Good luck."

"You, too," Mimi said sincerely, directing the words at Jyou, Yamato, and Koushiro as well. Then she turned away.

_We can _do this, Mimi thought, willing herself to believe it. _We were chosen for a reason_.


End file.
